BMT4210 Online Sales and Practices
│LECTURE 2│
Website Functionality and Design
Lesson Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the lesson, you are expected to be able to:
Develop a website with appropriate functions and contents
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Understand the basic design principles for developing an attractive website
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1. Domain Name
Domain names are used in URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) to identify particular Web
pages. For example, in the URL http://www.jennycakeshop.com/index.html, the domain
name is jennycakeshop.com.
An URL (Uniform Resource Locator) represents the unique address for each page on a
website or document posted online. A company’s website might be made up of several web
pages, each with a unique URL.
Before a company starts creating web pages, the first thing to do is to determine its domain
name. A good domain name should have the following characteristics:
- Easy to spell
- Simple to remember
- Relatively short
- Contains important keywords (an indication of the type of products or services you’re
selling)
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BMT4210 Online Sales and Practices
2. Website Functionality
When it comes to creating the best possible user experience, functionality is a critical part of
the website design process. When designing a company’s website, it needs to figure out how
to use function to influence customer decisions.
2.1 Basic Functionality
At the first level are basic functions, customers expect this lowest, or base, level of
functionality. Basic functions include these features:
- Quick-loading pages: Customers don’t have the patience to wait for pages to load. To
decrease the need to load new pages on the website, consider using overlays or pop-up
content boxes. These elements display additional information without leaving the page.
- Ease of navigation: When customers go from page to page in a website, its navigation
tools should allow customers to
n find and identify navigational buttons and links
n immediately return to the home page
n return to the preceding or last-visited page
- Working links: All internal and external links to pages on a website should be valid and
working.
- Viewable images: When photos and graphics are included on a website, be sure that the
images load correctly and quickly.
- Shopping carts: It is necessary to provide a method of shopping and paying for items over
the Internet.
- Mobile-ready: To make sure the website is mobile responsive, which means the website
automatically resizes itself to fit any type and size of screen.
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2.2 Interactive Functionality
At the second level of website functionality are interactive functions, which actively engage
customers with a website. They are:
- Site search: Give customers a tool that enables them to quickly search for information on
the website.
- Reviews: Consider offering visitors the option to review or rate the products and service
offered.
- Community forums: Forums provide options that let visitors interact with the company
and with one another.
- Blogs: These extremely popular online journals provide another opportunity for customers
to interact with the company and others.
- Member registration: Registration provides members with benefits such as newsletters,
new products messages, etc. and provides the company with customer contact
information – a win-win situation for both parties.
2.3 Enhanced Functionality
The third level of site functionality are the tools and features that offer customers an enhanced
experience on the website. They are:
- Video, online demonstration and tutorials: Offering online learning options is easy and
affordable by using videos. And videos of any type, from customer testimonials to
interviews with employees, can add value and increase visitor engagement on the website.
Google Hangouts and Google Hangouts on Air will be an effective tool for creating online
tutorials or demos.
- Live or 24/7 customer support: Customer service is greatly enhanced if unlimited support
can be offered. Some research indicates that offering live support can increase online sales
by as much as 20%.
- Geographic locator: If a company has physical locations in addition to its web presence,
geography-related tools are a plus. Customers appreciate access to maps and driving
directions, or store locators using interactive maps.
- Second-language viewing options: Savvy website owners offer customers the option to
view websites in other languages.
- Podcasts: Similar to video or Hangouts, podcasts are helpful ways to share more
information about products or services. Because podcasts are available through
third-party providers, such as Apple iTunes, Google Play, etc., a company can reach
visitors through its podcast who might not otherwise know about its website.
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3. Guiding Website Traffic Flow
With so many different pages and options for what and when a visitor first sees on a
company’s website, it’s important to help define the path it wants visitors to take. It also needs
to map out and control how traffic flows through the pages of its website.
The first thing to do is to define the goals and conversion points for each page of the website.
- Goal: It is a result a company wants to achieve, and it must be specific and measurable.
E.g., To increase traffic to a particular product page on your website by 20% over the
previous 30 days.
- Conversion: It is the completion of an action, such as clicking a call-to-action button or
buying a product.
Conversion rate is used to determine how successful an online offer is on a particular page.
It is calculated by dividing the number of clicks on a call-to-action button (e.g. a Buy Now
button) by the number of visitors on the page over a certain period of time.
Knowing the goal of a specific page helps a company determines which call-to-action it needs
on the page, and further helps to determine what type of content its needs to that page.
4. Basic Website Design Principles
A favorable impression is based entirely on the design elements you use. The following
elements can be considered:
4.1 Structure (Layout)
- Number of pages: To determine the number of pages that are necessary.
- Placement of the navigational toolbar: It is commonly placed along the left (or right) side,
along the top, or in both places. Simple, fixed menu bars or drop-down menu bars are
popular style choices when building a responsive website.
- Buttons, tabs, and links: Buttons on the navigation bar come in unlimited designs, shapes,
and colors (depending on the software used).
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4.2 Color
- The color scheme could be bold and bright, soft, and understated, or plain white or neutral
colors. Another consideration is how to incorporate those colors into the website. We can
use a color as a background for the entire website, to highlight sections of texts, or to
separate segments within the website.
4.3 Font
- No matter which styles a company chooses - creative, artistic, or graphical fonts, or
simple, easy-to-read fonts, it’s important to find a design that works for its brand and to be
consistent across the website.
- For text size, ensure that it’s clear and readable.
4.4 Images
- Images draw readers’ eyes to specific areas of a website and can help illustrate
information and ideas. High-quality images have always been a necessity for selling
products.
4.5 Social Media
- Social media gets customers more involved with a brand by encouraging them to
comment and share information, which in turn could lead to more customers and more
sales. It is necessary to use the website to persuade customers to “like” it on Facebook or
“follow” it on Instagram.
4.6 Media
- Video has become a common element when designing a website. Research supports that
video increases customer engagement (how the customer interacts with the website and
brand) and can increase product sales (e.g. when using video for product reviews).
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5. Making Design Choices
A company must make a number of decisions when it develops the look and feel of its
website. Generally, the following characteristics determine a website’s look:
5.1 Industry or Line of Business
- Subdued colors with a simple layout can be considered if you are in a conservative
industry such as accounting or financial services. Conversely, a bright, funky design with
lots of colorful images can be used in the design industry.
5.2 Types of Products or Service Offered
- Selling products or services that have a serious message (such as medical equipment)
prefer a low-key design approach and having layers of pages to provide research or
product information.
- On the other hand, products that are fun might sell better if the website is light and
creative and filled with product images.
5.3 An existing brand
- If a company has an established business, its website’s style or outlook might be
predetermined by its store or product base.
5.4 Customers’ Demographics and Psychographics
- Age, gender, education, and geographic location are examples of demographics.
Attitudes, opinions, and values are considered psychographics.
- The more a company knows about customers, the more likely it is to create the
appropriate feel for the website.
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6. Key to Success
6.1 Keep it Simple
- Trends will phase out. By keeping design elements simple and by using only one or two
trendy features, it can increase the design lifespan of the website.
6.2 Keep the Information Updated and Relevant
- Keeping the text, photos and hypertext links, and copyright dates of the website current
offers value.
6.3 Avoid Images or Graphics that Visually Date the Site
- A website can quickly become outdated if it uses seasonal or current event photos.
Similarly, photos of people can be telltale signs of an outdated site because of clothing and
hair.
7. Developing Website Contents
Content is officially promoted to royalty when search engines begin placing increased
importance on it as part of search engine optimization (SEO). Google decides a website’s
search results ranking is affected by the quality of the website’s content and its relevance to
website visitors.
7.1 Objectives
Effective web contents help you achieve the following five objectives:
- Help search engines notice a website
- Convince customers to visit a website
- Educate customers about products and services
- Stimulate customers to act (to buy products!)
- Encourage customers to come back and do it all over again (to buy more products!)
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7.2 Keywords and Keyword Phrases
- Search engines (e.g., Google) want to understand the intent of the search and match that to
the best possible quality contents. It depends upon clues in the form of keywords that help
indicate what the website and content are about.
- E.g., keywords or keyword phrases for bicycle sellers are bicycle, bicycle helmets, men’s
bicycles, racing bikes, peddles, etc.
- Search engines want a company to focus on writing the best quality content possible that
matches the searcher’s intent. Write the sentence using natural sentences that reflect the
way people talk or explain things.
- Search engines evaluate and consider both the quality and usefulness of a website’s
content. So be aware of using good grammar, proper punctuation, and well-constructed
sentences.
- When you are writing content that’s search-engine friendly, remember two rules:
n Think like a customer: Include content that provides answers to the type of
questions customers are asking.
n Avoid saturation: Keywords should be a natural part of the content, not overly
obvious.
Writing for the web is easy if you use words, phrases, and sentences that are:
7.2.1 Attention-getters
n Choose words, especially in headlines, that command attention and arouse interest.
n The average person looks at a web page for less than a minute (as little as 8 seconds)
before deciding to move on, so you need to make the information precise and easy
to read (use short sentences). If customers want to seek more in-depth information,
hypertext link to another page or an expanded viewing window can help.
7.2.2 Self-explanatory
n It’s best to avoid using abbreviations, catchy product names, and industry jargon.
n When using these types of words, define them in parentheses or offer an expanded
view that contains the complete information.
7.2.3 Simple
n Say what you mean.
n Don’t make your customers read between the lines or try to guess what you
intended.
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8. Content Packaging
8.1 Specifying Outcome
- Every single page of a website serves a specific purpose. For example, a home page might
convince a visitor to stay long enough to click a specific product link.
- After defining the expected outcome for a page, it becomes easier to determine whether
the content serves that purpose.
8.2 Skimmable Content
- It means that a company allows a customer to look over chunks of data rather than have to
read every single word to get its message.
- The increasing use of mobile devices for viewing websites make short content even more
important.
- Customers reading content on mobile phones want to get to the specific details quickly.
- Suggestions to make text skimmable:
n Use short paragraphs
n Highlight, or boldface, important words and phrases
n Use bullets to call out details
n Include hypertext links to draw attention to a source of more information
n Increase the font size of text to put emphasis on certain words
n Incorporate graphics or images that complement the text and call attention to it
References
Belew, S. & Elad, J. (2017). Starting an Online Business All-in-One for Dummies. John Wiley
& Sons.
